The Open Sky: Eternal Forest Saga - Book 3

Chapter 6

 The comforts of home always reminded Sparrow of why she'd wanted to be a Thorn in the first place, but being away from home and seeing just how different faerie life was from the rest of the forest made her cherish her culture even more. She'd needed to relax, to clear her head after a long journey and a mission that proved both physically and emotionally taxing. Sparrow needed to be among friends, where she could let her guard down and take part in fun distractions before returning to the complex emotions haunting her mind.

Her experience at the tavern that first day in Meadowgold had been a hard lesson on just how different the humans lived. It was noisy and smelly. All the surfaces were made of wood and stone. The human tavern was a shrine to embracing baser instincts, and it all felt so barbaric. As she pushed past the deep purple sheet covering the entrance to "The Moonflower", her senses were delighted by the familiarity all around her.

The lounge was her favorite place in the whole city. It was carved deep into the trunk near the large platform that surrounded the tree. A flickering candle at the center of the room dimly lit the plethora of large pillows strewn about the floor. Upon the pillows, faeries from all walks of life sat or lay as they drank wine, smoked pipes, and softly swayed to the music of the flute and drum players in the far corner. Strings of flowers hung from the ceiling, segregated into strands by color. Clouds of incense and pipe smoke wafted through the air and past her nose. She breathed deep. It was good to be back.

"Sparrow!"

The cry came from a familiar voice along the wall to her left. It didn't take her long to notice a handful of her Thorn squadron lounging in a nest they'd fashioned from several large, pastel-colored pillows. She was careful of her footing, making sure not to step on any of the faeries lounging about the floor as she made her way over. Once within reach, Mantis, her good friend and second in command, reached out his hand to help her over the knee-high wall of pillows.

"It is good to be home," she exclaimed while plopping down onto the floor. She let out a long exhale, reveling in the chance to finally relax for the first time in days.

Mantis returned to his seat and lay back against the bare chest of his husband, Dragonfly, who was sitting with his back against the wall. Sparrow ordered a drink from a servant wandering by.

"So, I hear you did a good job leading in my stead," she said to Mantis warmly. "Even got to see a little action at the southern border."

"Yes!" said an enthusiastic young soldier across from her. He was sitting cross-legged with his elbows resting on his knees. "Got to show a couple of wayward goblins why they shouldn't go wandering into faerie lands."

"They weren't exactly just wandering," Mantis said. His voice was far less jovial sounding than that of the soldier. "Looked to me like they were scouting or patrolling, and doing so pretty damn far from the rest of their tribe."

"Any idea why?" Sparrow asked.

"Not a clue," he answered. "Since you were the one off on secret missions, I was hoping you'd have something to clue me in."

Sparrow held her tongue.

"So, I'll just go ahead and cut to the main question," Mantis said. "Is there anything about this mission you were on that you can talk about?"

Sparrow just shook her head. She was anticipating the question and Mantis was never one to be subtle about things. She was honestly thankful that her trip to Meadowgold was top secret because she wouldn't have been comfortable talking about much of it anyway. "It was official business for the Rose, a matter of tribe security."

"Is it at least resolved?" asked a woman to her right.

"It is," Sparrow half-lied. She had completed her objective, but it was clear her accomplishments only helped to set more work in motion. Still, she didn't want her squad worrying about unnameable threats. "Everything is fine."